Siakirdhua
Created by u/ValdemarDaae GEOGRAPHY The region of Siakirdhua varies strongly in elevation. Mountain slopes are dominated by vast deepwater coral or sponge reefs, while bioluminescent oases and detritus litter large abyssal plains. The continental plateau and mountaintops have greater sunlight and productivity, while abyssal vents and ravines are home to far more alien hotspots of biodiversity. Massive glass sponges transport light downwards like natural fibre optics, forming midnight forests of giant fanworms and carbonaceous algae. The dissolution of local deepwater minerals across the continental plateau feeds large zooplankton populations and vast shoals of fish. BIOLOGY/ETHNICITY Far derived from cichlid teleosts ancestors, growing as adults between 3 and 7 meters long and weighing up to 4 tons, the Siakir are an originally pelagic and bathydemersal sophont species. Members of a vastly successful group of fish, their shared key to success is the development of their upper premaxilla into a pair of tooth-lined mandibles and possessing of powerful pharyngeal jaws- a feeding arrangement for suction, crushing and biting food, and in turn are also the primary tool manipulators for the Siakir. Suction in the oral cavity between the two sets of jaws and the gill opercula create low frequency calls that can travel for miles between individuals. Siakir are an active species, and are regionally endothermic to enable this(their brain region is specialized to near-permanently remain warm blooded). Typically they may cruise at speeds around 20 kilometres per hour, though during intensive exercise they may reach over 60 kilometres an hour. Their anal and dorsal fins are hypertrophied into large sails to maintain balance and speed, while their vast pelvic and pectoral fins are centrally positioned to fan outwards like four great wings- the former downwards orientated, the latter upwards. The caudal fin is atrophied on the tail of the torpedo-like body, extended only for rapid sprinting. Siakir fins are otherwise transparent, but they can increase blood flow to them so that the pink and red patterns can be used for signalling and individual identification(dually serving to radiate heat after high-intensity activity). Beyond blood-flushed fins, Siakir coloration varies greatly from greys, browns, greens and blues depending on place of birth and ancestry. Countershading, with the half of the body above the lateral line being darker than the half below to function as basic camouflage, is present in almost all Siakir phenotypes except for black hypermelanistic or red erythristic phenotypes, both abyssal races. The races of the Siakir are often distantly related to each other, forming separate subspecies- or even full species- usually able to interbreed. Reproduction is ovoviviparous, and a clutch of eggs is kept in the body until birth or near hatching. They are born as capable and developed young, though still dependent upon their pod for raising them, providing food and teaching skils until they become adults after 8-10 years. Siakir have an average lifespan of 50 years, and only become reproductively inviable soon before death. Siakir sizes are influenced by food availability and ancestry, but growth and development can slow or halt and reinitiate many times through their entire life. During extreme famines, some individuals may cool their brain and core temperature to exothermic levels to conserve energy, and may remain in this position of dormancy for weeks on end. Environmental adaptation- and perhaps the gift of intelligence- has also granted the Siakir more unusual abilities. Almost all Siakir can manipulate water pressure around them, particularly from the vicinity of their lateral line. This is a near instinctive act, and is used in everything from crafters manipulating small objects, to surface-born Siakir keeping pressure levels around them safe when diving to deeper regions. These unique magics are even used unconsciously, keeping sleeping Siakir afloat and balanced with higher pressure underneath their bodies to support themselves. HISTORY The Siakir are an old race, though the designation of the Siakirdhua relatively recent. For several million years Siakir and their ancestors have roamed pelagic waters worldwide, communally hunting, foraging and scavenging across much of Aokoa in small pods, polar groups occasionally convening for mass seasonal migrations. This lifestyle began to change with the arrival of Siakir into isolated continental plains with a lack of competition and abundant resources around 50,000 years ago. Enough resources, in fact, that foraging could be now static in more productive regions, and nomadic travel less frequent. As fixed settlement promoted greater interaction with local environments, domestication, monitoring or cultivation of local fauna and flora by the Siakir began in earnest. Lower infant mortality rates and secure food supply allowed greater population density for these static foraging groups, with the construction of granary structures beginning 35,000 years ago. Eventually these foraging regions would be managed and modified into the first agriculture, and from this would emerge permanent Siakir settlements. For over 20,000 years the region of the Siakirdhua has seen the spread of urban areas, and the new civilisations attracted the interest of other aquatic races(Siakir being previously regarded as a reclusive but agreeable nomad race). Translation and trade soon became commonplace, and the range of goods available attracted globally travelling Siakir pods to barter wares in market cities. Local claims over resources or territory soon solidified between groups into a fractured but largely stable network of uban, foraging and nomadic regions. However the difficulties of ocean currents, natural disasters and climatic change over the millenia remained. Ecological disruptions in one region could translate to immense famines, migratory waves or regional collapse in another. It is around this time that the existence of Siakir crowds began, possibly from those individuals dispossessed from hardship or famine. Only over the few past centuries has contact between the civilizations of the Siakirdhua and surface races truly began, with the arrival of surface-sailing ships causing much interest(varying reactions from the apocalyptic to mercantile). Initial conflicts soon emerged between fishing vessels taking shoals and large game from Siakir lands, with more aggressive nomad groups even sinking ships upon sight. Soon cooler heads prevailed, however, with the more powerful Siakir city-states using other aquatic intermediaries to translate and understand surface cultures, aiming to of trade valuable goods above and below the waves. Negotiations began with surface sailing vessels, and 80 years ago the ‘Siakirdhua Settlement’ was achieved. This agreement clearly delineated a region(encompassing most of the local Siakir civilisations) where all surface ships entering were to provide tribute for safe passage, by throwing all waste and a portion of all caught resources from Siakir waters overboard. Travelling groups or local pods will then collect these resources and trail ships, protecting them from leviathans, hostile groups or storms as they remain in the Siakirdhua- some groups now even present themselves as ship protections for hire worldwide. Since the Settlement, trade and contact between the Siakir and other aquatic races with the surface has massively expanded. SOCIETY Siakir society is typically divided into the fundamental units of pods and crowds, present throughout forager, nomadic and urban situations. The former groups consist of an extended family, spanning many generations of related individuals. These pods will almost always travel together- if urgent matters appear for one member of the pod, the rest of the pod will follow if possible. A pod may be 10 to 200 Siakir in number(nomadic pods are typically largest), and disagreements or personal events may split pods into related groups. Depending on culture, pods may be ruled by consensus or an elder Siakir. Subadults, orphaned juveniles or exiled adults may join nee pods freely on an individual basis. Crowds are a band of unrelated and often multicultural Siakir that join together for survival, safety or company. Numbering up to 40 Siakir, crowds are usually impromptu based upon circumstance, with members joining or leaving as they wish. Sometimes crowds will establish themselves and found a second generation, steadily resembling less cohesive pods. Crowds act on a more individualist basis, though some serve as refuges for the displaced or selective orders in their own right. Nomadic Siakir groups often follow migration routes, from globally roving voyages pole to pole, to carefully plotted routes between regions that have been practiced for centuries. Pods and crowds may band together briefly when resources are plentiful, or even stay with the hospitality of foraging and urban groups. Nomadic culture is more aggressive, collectivist and isolationist. Fixed settlements are usually static foraging or agricultural, with a great degree of overlap between the two. Static foraging claims may be home to a single pod or crowd, multiple in confederation or simply be a seasonal stopover for multiple migratory crowds on benevolent terms. Agricultural settlements typically emerge as foraging towns that grow large enough to require more intensive food production. The structure of pods and crowds becomes far more transient in urban society in favor of an individualist and mercantile focus, and certain urban cultures lack group distinctions entirely. Usually city-states maintain rural tributaries by mutual trade or agreement; the global scope of Siakir travel has generally prevented large empires or the ambitions to establish them from appearing, though it has fostered a rather instinctively multicultural stance to urban culture. Urban areas are governed in many individual ways, though a meritocratic basis is prevalent in many of the Siakirdhua civilisations. CULTURE Siakir individuals may travel across the known world in less than a lifetime, and pod migrations make ethnicities widely dispersed and intermingled. Lunar and solar events are revered, and tides are used for travel calendars. Siakir have an internal geomagnetic compass, and the symbolic use of this direction exists in architecture, art and religion. Information is often recorded in the form of musical instruments to mimic Siakir speech, or glyphs distinguished by shade and color. Often these records recount legends, histories and myths. Organized faiths are rare and typically local, but folktales often have local forms with equivalents dispersed elsewhere across the Siakirdhua. The local civilisations are particularly industrious in this respect, with an organized system of tributes, claims and estates(parallel to that of Siakir geopolitics) devoted to gods, pantheons and more abstract spirits. The disabled or abnormal in Siakir cultures are often respected or revered for their forms, and entire ethnic groups result from abnormalities being a sign of nobility, spirituality or identity. Siakir personal philosophy is individualistic, though somewhat unusual. Reasoning, spiritualism and emotions are all considered part of a wider self-sustaining psyche. Personal experiences and ideas throughout life are the deciding factor for political or religious stances- shared ideas are treated as separate concepts to the individual, usually forming from a consensus of similarly-minded Siakir. Great thinkers of the Siakir are often polymaths, with curiosity and experimentation given great emphasis as long as there is no objection from personal standards. Philosophies vary immensely, but courtesy is given and long-term strategies are given prominence above fleeting ideological debates. Agreements or concessions have to usually be unanimous to pass among Siakir groups. Conflict among Siakir is rare, with physically hostile action usually considered either a martial art or last resort. Instead passive-aggression is basically a Siakir emotion, and grudges are rarely maintained in light of more utilitarian social attitudes. Violent battle and long-held revenge are treated as monumental tasks, and are commonly revered in Siakir gods and spiritualism. OCCURRENCE OF MAGIC Natural Siakir pressure magics are a core feature of society and behavior, and those without the ability thanks to congenital conditions or injury of the nervous system are considered to possess a significant disability. The capacity for these native magics varies among the general population, from basic unconscious hovering to propulsion and being able to heat or crush objects with hydrostatic pressure. Those particularly powerful or proficient in pressure manipulations often become trained as hunters for foragers and nomads or urban craftsmen. An endemic method exists of casting metal tools from manganese nodules or other seabed minerals by rapidly depressurising and then repressurising water around the ore(in a confined mold or consciously defined shape) into a cavitation bubble, casting the metal without fire. A similar process is used for casting valuable pottery and glass objects. More powerful pressure manipulators may use this talent to cast fixed runes or wards, used structurally in extravagant Siakir architecture or to form defenses and transport infrastructure. Most recently, the study of surface mechanics has prompted certain Siakir inventors to combine pressure magics with hydraulic mechanisms. Those few Siakir with greater magical talents are rare and mostly unattended to. Unique forms of sonomancy, necromancy, geomancy, biomanipulation and shamanic magic are all present among the Siakir, but little-recorded and local affairs. The individualistic approach of most Siakir philosophy encourages personal development of magical prowess, and very little education exists for magical arts. This makes the powers of magically gifted Siakir highly individualistic, either revered as community figures or left to their own devices. MAJOR EXPORTS/IMPORTS The Siakirdhua is rich in fisheries, biodiversity and productivity; organic technology is commonly used, particularly for rural Siakir. Pressure magic runes and undersea artefacts are manufactured or discovered, and some Siakir merchants specialise in the trade of spoils from sunken cargo. Seabed ores are manufactured into unique objects, but the lack of fire makes forged items(metal, glass, pottery) rare and valuable goods. Surface machinery and technology is also of great demand, while food is scarce for the abyssal Siakir. Knowledge is blossoming among Siakir philosophers about the surface world, and almost any goods from above the waves are met with curiosity. Posts: Siakirdhua An Invitation to The Singharata Times For a Change 1: Vandal